David Pepper was Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party from 2015 to 2020. That\u2019s not as big a deal as I wish it were. Democrats have a tough time winning in Ohio. While the cities are Democratic, the suburbs are reliable Republican strongholds. (At least they were<\/u>, until the US Supreme Court Dodd\u2019s decision. The double upset wins of the two statewide issues on abortion in 2023, just might signal a change). <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And then there\u2019s the \u201ccountryside\u201d, places like Cedarville, and Ada, and even Oxford. Those all happen to be where the present Governor, Mike DeWine, lives or went to school. (For those who really know Ohio, DeWine was actually born and raised in Yellow Springs, which is quite a contrast to the rest of his political life!!). Those small towns are as \u201cRed\u201d as can be, as is nearby St. Paris, the home of Congressman Jim Jordan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Republicans, followed the Red Map strategy of the National Republican Party starting in 2010. They have completely gerrymandered the state legislature. In a state which even at its \u201cReddest\u201d phase is 42% Republican, 40% Democrat and 18% \u201cnon-affiliated\u201d: two-thirds of the State House of Representatives are Republican. And the GOP controls even a greater margin, just under three-fourths of the State Senate seats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Republicans control all the statewide elective executive offices. They have a four to three majority on the State Supreme Court, and ten of the fifteen US Congressional seats. Republican JD Vance is the junior Senator, while Democrat Sherrod Brown, a holdover from a different era, is fighting to keep his seat in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n David Pepper helped Brown defend his seat in 2018, but Ohio fell even deeper in a \u201cRed hole\u201d during his tenure as Chairman. As that famous Republican John Wayne once said (in Big Jake)<\/em>: \u201cMy fault, your fault, nobody\u2019s fault\u2026\u201d; in the past two decades the Democratic Party lost Ohio. And the National Democratic Party knows it. Their failure to finance Tim Ryan in his expertly run campaign against Vance in 2022 tells that story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The lack of Democratic competition leads to even more power for the extreme Republicans in the state. If there is no challenge in the general election, then the Republican primaries become the crucible determining who will gain power. And since only a small percentage of voters turn out for the primary (2024 \u2013 20.7%) the extreme of the Party holds control. There\u2019s no reason for moderate views or an appeal to the \u201ccenter\u201d; when the motivated \u201cright\u201d has the votes. So-called \u201cmoderate\u201d Republicans really don\u2019t stand a chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the lack of competition means there is a failure of electoral \u201cchecks and balances\u201d in the state. Even when the people of Ohio on a statewide ballot voted to end gerrymandering and have balanced re-districting, approve abortion, or legalize marijuana; the state legislature, the governor, and even the state Supreme Court are willing to ignore their voice. They are practicing \u201cdelay, delay, delay\u201d with the marijuana legislation. And they completely ignored the gerrymandering Constitutional Amendment, even ignoring the State Supreme Court when they were ordered to comply. We don\u2019t know yet how the abortion question will be legislated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, David Pepper is a national political commentator, fighting the inequity of one-Party rule here in Ohio. The absolute power of the Republicans have led to the \u201cother\u201d end of that famous phrase, \u201cabsolute corruption\u201d. The obvious example is the former Republican Speaker of the State House, Larry Householder, who took a $60 million bribe, and is currently serving twenty years in Federal Prison. Two others accused in the scandal have committed suicide (one with a DeWine for Governor T-shirt on). And Pepper in a recent essay, highlights how literally incestuous the Republican failure is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Governor\u2019s son, Pat DeWine, is a Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. Like Clarence Thomas on the US Court, the younger DeWine sees no conflict of interest in ruling on his own father\u2019s decisions. But the most egregious example of Republican hubris is a relatively minor case just handed down by the Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2022, the Cincinnati Bengals went to the Super Bowl. For us long-suffering Bengals fans it was an amazing accomplishment, and Governor DeWine took reasonable advantage of it by going to the game in Los Angeles. He took a party of twenty or so with him, mostly family, and paid for the tickets himself. But the Cincinnati Enquirer <\/em>(as Republican a newspaper as exists) did ask for an accounting of the State expenses of protecting the Governor and his large party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The State Highway Patrol refused to release the costs, claiming security concerns, and the Enquirer <\/em>sued under the Open Records Act. The case went to the Ohio Supreme Court. Pat DeWine, who went on the trip with his father, appropriately recused himself from the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s where things get \u2013 ugly. Justice DeWine is recently divorced. He had an affair with his senior staff attorney, Mary Stier. During the divorce, Stier resigned from the Court staff, and went to work for Joe Deters, the long-time Prosecutor for Hamilton County (Cincinnati area) and personal friend of Pat DeWine. A couple of years later, when a seat came open in the Court, Governor DeWine appointed Deters to fill the appointment. Deters brought Stier with him back to the Court as his staff attorney. Stier and Justice DeWine acknowledge they are currently in a relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So while Pat DeWine recused himself from the Enquirer <\/em>case, Deters was the pivotal vote denying the financial information to the newspaper. And who else was on the Bengals excursion to Los Angeles as part of the Governor\u2019s party \u2013 Pat DeWine and Mary Stier. Even with all of his personal involvement in the case, friend of one participant, employer of another, Deters remained on the bench to rule, and keep the information \u201csecret\u201d. In fact, Stier may have had a part in writing the actual decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\nGOP Control<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Un-Checked, Un-Balanced<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Who-Dey!!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Even in the Court<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Before the Fall<\/h3>\n\n\n\n